ACN - American Communications Network Attempted scam - I ain't that stupid Concord North Carolina
have a longtime neighbor, whom I've known for 20 years but rarely see/talk to, cold-call me & ask if I was open to the idea of making some money. She's kinda dingbatty & has been involved with Amway & other such MLM crap over the years. I told her upfront that yes I was interested, as long as it didn't involve sales. She lied thru her teeth & said "No, this is an exciting new technology, an opportunity to get in on the ground floor" yada yada yada. I figured it was BS but what the heck, I'll give her a bit of my time.
So I go to the meeting, & as expected there's a few other average-Joe folks there. She gets up & starts the enthusiastc canned intro for the rep, whom she's known for all of 3 months. Turns out he remembered me from years ago, when he was working a roofing job & needed my assistance. It was a crap job that I had a hard time getting paid for & I remember at the time thinking the guy was a schlubby idiot. But, like I said it was a long time ago so I'll be polite & listen to his spiel, for a little bit anyway.
After Ms Dingbat effusively yaps about how great this opportunity is & runs the intro video hosted by the whoredawg mother of all scammers himself (I won't mention any names, but the word "apprentice" should clue you in), she turns it over to Schlubby. He prattles some more vague jibberish ("Now who can argue with that?") for several minutes, then on cue Ms. Dingbat's whipped husband dutifully passes around clipboards with some flashy brochure showing the classic Pyramid Scheme, along with the dreaded trigger phrase "MLM." Just like they taught him at the $499 seminar I guess (more on that in a moment).
At this point I'm thinking to myself "Ohh-KAY what part of 'I don't do sales' did Ms. Dingbat not comprehend?" As Schlubby continues his pull-my-string Chatty Cathy pitch about all the wonderful people he met at some training session thing he went to, I look around at the other Potential Marks (& Markettes), wondering if they are also choking on this load of camel dung but are too nice to cough it up. I mean, people like Ms. Dingbat & Mr. Whipped have always preyed on their so-called friends & families ever since the dawn of MLM! The Conjob Hokey-Pokey-- That's What It's All About!
So while Schlubby tapdances & sings I flip past the glossy cover page & illustrated, misleading MLM pitch sheet (you, too can Get Rich!)-- it actually SHOWS a frikkin PYRAMID!!!!-- to find what appears to be some sort of enrollment form with teeny-tiny print. WTF? $499 enrollment fee? Service agreement? Monthly webpage subscription fee? Credit card number? WHOA beeeyatch, time out!
That's when I decided these fools had wasted enough of my time. I stood up, looked Schlubby in the eye (realizing he, Ms. Dingbat & Mr. Whipped must've already coughed up the $499-plus & now were desperately trying to climb up the slippery slope of the pyramid-- on OUR poor-b*****d shoulders!) and politely said "Excuse me, but I gotta go. This isn't for me," handed Mr. Whipped his clipboard-with-marketing-materials-&-convenient-pen-to-sign-away-my-$499, turned on my heels and said AMF.
Schlubby seemed taken off-guard, probably his "trainers" had told him his Potential Marks & Markettes would most likely be far too polite to ever do such a thing. Whatever, dude, rots of ruck finding enough sheep to fleece!
The next day I googled "ACN complaints" & much to my non-surprise, quite the massive manure pile floated up. So I gave Ms. Dingbat a courtesy call & said "I just wanted to let you know I checked ACN out & it's a scam-- you might want to think about it before you get too involved." Hey, I'll be a good neighbor even though she tried to scam me-- maybe she really DIDN'T know. Yeah, right-- she cuts me off mid-sentence, gets all huffy & says "IT'S NOT A SCAM!!!" & hangs up on me. You're welcome!
I guess she won't be inviting me to any Amway-Tupperware parties anytime soon. Boo-h*o!
All I can say is, buyer beware-- with friends like her, who needs enemas? Assume everything's a scam til proven otherwise & take 10 minutes to check it out before forking over so much as a wooden nickel!
Rocket rick
Royal palm Beach, Florida
U.S.A.
7 Updates & Rebuttals
R. Michael G
Florida,Completely False!
#8Consumer Comment
Sat, March 16, 2013
As you said yourself Rocket Rick, don't believe everything you read on the internet.
I have written so many long and detailed responses to all of these baseless claims by ANONYMOUS sources, that It's nauseating, so I'll just keep them simple.
If you want to know the truth about this just go to - ACNIBO: Read The Facts - and read the article. It will only take a few minutes and you will understand the facts, not just opinions of 100s of ANONYMOUS complainers, who claim to know the truth, but wont reveal who they actually are.
There is no point in defending ACN from people who just want to believe how bad it is, they will seek what they want to believe, if you're one of them, dont bother reading the article you might have to change your mind.
R. Michael - ACN IBO #02637585
Read the complete article explaining the FACTS not ANONYMOUS opinions
Or read through all my posts and find everything there is to know about ACN.
Kristin
Henderson,Nevada,
U.S.A.
If there's so much money, why do I have to pay to join?
#8Consumer Comment
Wed, July 21, 2010
I have been to an ACN "presentation." The guy who fooled me into coming to his office claimed he got my name off a list and was a corporate headhunter, so I went to see what the deal was. I knew as soon as The Donald showed his face on the video that this was something I didn't want any part in, but I stayed and listened to be polite.
To be perfectly honest, it doesn't seem to be an actual scam. There is work to do, money to be made, etc. The part that is the problem is that you have to pay $499 to "work" for this company. Anything that is a legitimate cash cow such as this should have people banging down the doors to get in, they shouldn't have to reel people in with big-money promises and then ask for a fee at the door. They tried to make me feel special and important by saying they offer this opportunity only to certain people, then they invited me to a meeting of 100+ people the next night. Oh, and while I was there, a few scruffy characters wandered in and out... not exactly the face of corporate America.
Also, if you go for this, you have to be "that guy...." you know the guy.... the one who is constantly up his friends' behinds to buy this or that product, switch to this or that service, join this club. Pretty soon your friends are avoiding your calls and forgetting to invite you over because you've always got a sales pitch. Not much fun having a private jet when you have to fly alone because all of your pals are annoyed as hell at you.
Hity
Las Vegas,Nevada,
U.S.A.
Becky: So for 18yrs the Feds are useless in closing this "scam"?
#8General Comment
Mon, January 25, 2010
The business is now going on its 18th year so if it is a scam, why can't the Feds close it down? Or if it is a scam, then AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Moblie, Direct TV, etc are in on the scam and are just wasting their money on this "scam".
It looks like you did not get the whole picture that's why you say that "from experience."
Hity
Las Vegas,Nevada,
U.S.A.
One Meeting does not a business make
#8General Comment
Mon, January 25, 2010
I agree with you that the rep shouldn't have lied to you about ACN not being sales and that's what closed your mind to the whole business. By now you would have found out that it is indeed in sales and is the largest telecommunication retailer in the world. I have been with ACN for a few months now and I started out as a REAL skeptic. Just like you I went to the University of Google to get some education from the world's biggest public restroom wall which is the internet.
True enough there were tons of info on ACN with many of them being very unflattering but just like reading a book, I had to learn more in order to make a fair conclusion so I agreed to go to another meeting. I have a church buddy who has been doing ACN part time for several years now and has built a nice residual monthly income from that. He has NOT been pushing me to do the business but did offer the products.
In those meetings the ACN trainors repeatedly emphasized that this is NOT a get rich quick system. It does work but not without hard work. Now if that is not your typical all-American competitiveness-and-capitalism success formula, I don't know what is. Bill Gates did not become world's richest without working or having the right product and system.
The basic "pyramid" model you compare this to would not be accurate because unlike most MLM, there is no inventory for you to maintain in ACN. The beauty of this business is that once you made a customer, you keep getting paid on services that they keep paying anyway with or without you. They pay their TV, you get paid, they pay they cellphone, you get paid, they pay their intrnet you get paid EVERY MONTH as long as they use the services which is pretty much as long as they live.
The trainors also emphasized that this business needs, on the average, 2 years to really pay off so I'll keepp plugging away. If it does take me that long, I still wouldn't mind having a thousand bucks extra A MONTH everytime the customers pay bills they would have to pay with or without me anyway.
Terry Jaddou
Michigan,United States of America
Rocket Rick Rebuttal ACN
#8General Comment
Thu, December 24, 2009
DO you believe everything that you hear on the internet ? I equate it to the bathroom wall ? Why is it a scam ? A scam probably where you work. You work for the owner of a company and you will never make more than him no matter what you do smart guy
Becky
Avon,Ohio,
United States of America
It is a scam!
#8Consumer Comment
Wed, December 09, 2009
ACN is most definitely a scam! I'm speaking from experience. This so called company solely relies on poor sucker recruiting money and hidden fees. They don't sell products or services that are worth anything!
Pam
Las Vegas,Nevada,
U.S.A.
Company itself is not a scam.
#8
Sun, August 16, 2009
LOL!!! You make me laugh Rick in a good way. The company is not a scam, otherwise they will be shut down. It is legal to operate the way they do(Financially speaking). The people involved however, that's another story, and I'm talking about their characters. I don't like ACN because of their crappy products. True pyramid scheme is when they don't have a product and just money changing hands, that's illegal. Just remember that "EVERY" company is set up this way, a pyramid. If you're not the President (on top) than you're an employee (at the bottom), and there are other positions in between that. Draw it out, it will look like a pyramid. That's just "Business" in a nutshell. I still don't like ACN.